NAKURU, Kenya, Jan 11 — A public service driver blamed for the January 9 accident at Twins Bridge in Mau Summit had been charged with causing death by reckless driving.
Clement Kiarie, 34, was also charged with using a wrong insurance policy cover when he was presented before a Senior Resident Magistrate in Molo on Thursday.
He faced a total of eighteen counts for the fifteen deaths that resulted from the crash along Nakuru-Eldoret Highway, and the additional traffic offences.
The court admitted him to a Sh1mn bond with two similar sureties pending a pre-trail on January 29.
While presenting its case, the prosecution argued that Kiarie, who was driving a bus, steered the vehicle in a dangerous manner resulting to the crash.
The prosecution told the court the crash with a 14-seater van resulted in the death of fifteen passengers, occupants on the van who included a 2-year-old.
Kiarie was also charged with contravening the use of a third-party cover by carrying 44 passengers under a commercial insurance policy instead of a Public Service Insurance cover.
He similarly faced a count for lane encroachment that resulted to the head-on collision.
The prosecution asked Senior Resident Magistrate Daisy Mose to give the accused stringent bail terms taking into account the number of people who died in the accident.
The Prosecutor said the bus, branded as Classic Kings of Congo, had a foreign plate and belonged to a Ugandan company which would make it hard to trace the driver.
“The court should also note that the driver fled immediately after the accident and was only arrested yesterday,” the prosecutor stated.
The Magistrate ordered that the driver be escorted to a medical facility for treatment. He noted that the suspect was visibly injured and in pain.
